MEDAN: As many as 116 people were feared dead when an Indonesian C-130 Hercules crashed in to residential area of Medan city shortly after takeoff, official said on Tuesday.
According to reports, television footage showed the mangled wreckage of the C-130 Hercules, a crumpled burning car and a shattered building that local media said was recently built and contained a spa, shops and homes.
Smoke billowed from the site and several thousand people milled nearby. Rescue teams scrambled over the rubble, searching for any survivors.
Air force chief Air Marshall Agus Supriatna said 49 bodies have been recovered and taken to Medan’s Adam Malik hospital.
The plane’s manifest showed there were 50 people on the flight from Medan to the remote Natuna island chain, according to North Sumatra police chief Eko Hadi Sutedjo, but the actual number might be higher.
Many passengers were families of military personnel.
